Petrus Gonsalvus suffered from Hypertrichosis. A medical condition less known and understood in the 16th century. It is indeed truly said that we fear what we don’t understand. This gave him the title ‘beast’ and soon followed the sub human treatment. Sadly the Disney version of his life comes nowhere close to depicting some of the most horrifying experiences he had to undergo just because medicine was not so far developed back then. This makes me think that as doctors we must strive to not fail our patients specially in times when the society has failed them.
Leave a Reply